It’s been eight years since Kyle Larson competed in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. On that afternoon, the Elk Grove, California-native went to Victory Lane driving for Chip Ganassi Racing.
All these years later, the result remains the same, as the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion pulled his No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, fielded by JR Motorsports, into the Winner’s Circle in Sin City.
Larson wasn’t necessarily the class of the field on Saturday, not taking over the race-lead for the first time until 47 laps remaining in the 200-lap contest, and he didn’t technically “embarrass” the field, like he’s said is his goal when he runs in the second-tier division, but the 32-year-old driver did use his veteran prowess to strike when the iron was hot.
Although he spent much of the afternoon hovering around the top-five, Larson was dealing with an ill-handling racecar, which was keeping him from being the storming presence at the front of the pack that we’ve come to expect out of the Hendrick Motorsports driver.
“My car was not handling the best at all,” Larson said post-race. “I was just super, super tight, loaded, and I couldn’t carry any speed in the corners. I was just getting ate up on restarts, I mean, really the whole run.”
That was until the final restart of the race, where, after a strong pit stop by his JR Motorsports crew, and a great restart (getting to the outside of drivers on older tires), Larson was finally able to put his HendrickCars.com-sponsored machine in clear air and set sail.
“That last restart, we had some guys stay out and I had a good launch and was able to get to the middle and get some clean air, and then I think just me being able to kind of run a line that allowed my front tires to be able to build where they needed to, to allow my car to be okay on the long run, I think helps.”
Chase Briscoe, one of the four NASCAR Cup Series regulars in the field for Saturday’s event, recovered from a flat tire in the middle of the race and an unscheduled pit stop to finish in the second position. Briscoe was closing in on Larson in the closing stages of the event, but several lapped cars slowed the progress of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
RACE RESULTS: NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series The LiUNA! (Las Vegas)
EchoPark Speedway winner Sheldon Creed finished in the third position, even after a questionable mid-race incident with Taylor Gray, which saw the driver of the No. 00 for Haas Factory Team essentially dump the Joe Gibbs Racing driver for throwing a block entering the third corner.
Justin Allgaier finished in the fourth position after leading a race-high 48 laps. Sammy Smith, Allgaier’s teammate at JR Motorsports, rounded out the top-five. The back-half of the top-10 included several drivers who came back from major points of adversity throughout the event.
Jesse Love, who finished sixth, had a pit road penalty in the middle portion of the event, which dropped the Richard Childress Racing driver to the back of the field, after crew chief Danny Stockman fell over the wall trying to catch a tire — which then became uncontrolled.
Connor Zilisch ended up seventh, which on the second lap of the race didn’t look possible. Zilisch, a full-timer in the NASCAR Cup Series, was involved in an accident with Jeremy Clements on the second lap of the event, which caused damage to both himself and the No. 51.
Corey Day was eighth, and while he didn’t have anything to overcome, the Hendrick Motorsports driver faded significantly in the final run and slid outside the top-five. At times, Day looked poised to contend for the victory, leading nine laps.
William Sawalich and Austin Hill completed the top-10.
Polesitter Sam Mayer led 32 laps in Saturday’s 200-lap contest, but exited contention for the victory during the break after Stage 1, when the No. 41 Audibel Chevrolet Camaro had electrical issues. Mayer finished 35th, four laps down, but did score a bonus point for having the Xfinity Fastest Lap.
Leaving Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Justin Allgaier holds a 13-point lead over Jesse Love, the only driver to score a top-10 result in all five NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series events this season.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will return to action next weekend at Darlington Raceway for the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200. Coverage of the event will be at 5:30 PM ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
